INTERVIEW – BLACK KIDS

Black Kids are an unsigned band who don’t have a record and have never been on tour but are suddenly being tipped as the next big thing. With songs that sound like The Cure vs My Bloody Valentine, this Florida quintet wowed everyone at the recent Athens Popfest and are currently getting lusty reviews everywhere. We chatted to the Black Kids and found out what they’re making of all the hyperbole…
MP3: Black Kids – “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You”

VICE: Great name. How did you come up with it?
Reggie Youngblood (Guitar/Vocals): This tends to be a long answer, but you’re not attacking our name (as some do), so I’ll tell you this: It is REALLY fucking hard to come up with a name that hasn’t been taken. You think of something you like, Google it, and sure enough, someone’s beat you to it.  So, we thought, we really must have something that most people won’t touch. And it should sound cool. I find it hilarious when someone black asks Owen or Kevin (who are both white) what band they play in, because they’re not quite comfortable saying it aloud.  If I’m with them, I just keep very quiet and relish the awkwardness.

How did you meet?
Well, I met our keyboard player, Ali, shortly after my mother birthed her.  I’ve come to think of her as a sister, really. Kevin Snow and Owen Holmes, our drummer and bassist, respectively, I met in Sunday School.  I’m pretty certain they’re going to hell. Dawn Watley, our other keyboardist, is Ali’s best friend.

Sunday school? Are you religious?
I’m not sure that any of us have been to Sunday School in the past decade. I can say this for Sunday School: it is a premiere place to meet girls.  And there’s so much sexual repression among Southern Baptists, that you inevitably hook up, which was probably foremost on our minds back then.  I don’t think any of us would qualify as religious. Though, we have been discussing Santería, but we can’t get past the animal sacrifice.

Why aren’t more black kids into indie?
I think it’s just culture. I grew up listening to everything. I think my first two music purchases were Poison’s “Open Up And Say Ah” and Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison.” I used to think that made me strange, but I’m finding that it’s not that uncommon with people my age.

How did the song “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” come about?
Well, Jacksonville is a sort of anomaly, in that despite being a somewhat culturally bereft city, we have amazing dance parties at which we dance like motherfuckers.  So, in this environment, I’ve repeatedly found myself in situations where girls love to dance with me (cos I can move, baby) but usually go home with someone else, who can’t dance for shit.  It’s a problem.

Are you planning any tours soon?
We’ve mostly kept to our hometown, but we will be touring soon. We’d very much like to hit the UK. As for releases, that’s up in the air, but I can’t imagine us not recording an LP within a year.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not playing music?
I live to school Owen and Kevin in basketball – they’re hopeless. I’m also a male nanny, or manny, if you will. And, like everyone else, I deejay.

You’re getting so much love at the moment what with a bunch of big record industry execs swarming to sign you. Is there anything you hate right now?
The platypus. Is it a mammal? A bird? Did you know that the males have poisonous spurs on the hind foot? Ungodly beasts.

DOM TUNON

* For more go to www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock